Top positive review
5 people found this helpful
Outstanding...for what it is.
By DrKK on Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2012
I recently built a box using the AMD A10-5800K...which is a very nice APU using the *FM2 socket*, which this cooler DOES fit. The only problem is, the heatsink/fan AMD provides with this CPU is really awful. With the stock heatsink, I carefully replaced their thermal grease, re-tinted the surface and the CPU cap, etc., and got the stock cooler to work better than most people did. But, it still wasn't good enough. I really wasn't about to overclock so much as I needed one of the usual 120mm monstrosities with a back plane on it, but, I'd like to be able to enjoy the occasional horsing around with my CPU. Then, I found this unit. The fan is 92mm, which makes it SUBSTANTIALLY smaller than the 120mm monsters which are usual in these type of coolers, but far bigger than the fan that comes on the stock cooler. The heatsink surface area on this unit is two or three times what you get in stock, PLUS you get copper contact pipes (which you don't get in the stock). Turns out, it is just at the cusp of size where you'd need extra support---but you just barely make it without having to mount anything on the back of the mobo. The pipe contact surface is not quite flush (pretty standard for this kind of unit), so it will be helpful to pre-tint the nooks and crannies with some decent grease (which is what I did---I used Arctic Silver Alumina). The Arctic Silver site tells you how to do this. But anyway, once it was on, you get plenty of clearance to your RAM slots (this can be problematic with the larger coolers), and you have your choice if this is going to blow push or pull, topwards or bottomwards. The default is push, and you can orient either top or bottom. They give you brackets to mount a second fan if you fancy a dual push-pull configuration, but other folks that have done that report little gain (according to a google search). Anyway, for some numbers. I did *NOT* use the thermal paste that came with this unit (others have said it works fine though, I just don't know what it is and don't want to use it)--I used Arctic Silver Arctic Alumina (which is a nice, long-lasting, ceramic compound...very inexpensive). I did pre-tint the cooler's heating pipes with the thermal compound. I tinted the AMD APU cap, and I used the center-dot method for the main application of the thermal paste. Note, this paste takes a few days to "cure", and after it cures, you can expect a few more degrees of cooling. So, the numbers I give you now are with this cooler mounted fresh, just an hour ago, and the thermal paste not yet fully cured. So, figure everything a couple degrees better than whatever I say if I were to retest it in a few days. Test #1: Standard (stock) CPU speed, CPU fan set to minimum, idling: stock/TX3: 32C / 28C (4C improvement) Test #2: Standard (stock) CPU speed, CPU fan set to minimum, four cores pinned on max torture test on Prime95: stock/TX3: exceeded max spec CPU temp, had to abort / about 60C (massive improvement, infinity improvement) Test #3: Standard (stock) CPU speed, all fans set to maximum, four cores pinned on max torture test on Prime95: stock/TX3: 56C / 44C (10'ish C improvement) Test #4: Overclocked modestly from 3.8GHz to 4.4GHz, running at maximum recommended voltages, drawing about 125W through the CPU alone, max fans, Prime95 torture test: stock/TX3: hahahahaha yeah right / 58C (infinity improvement) So there you have it. Obviously for this price, we're talking a SUBSTANTIAL improvement over the stock cooler that AMD gave me for my chip. Your mileage may vary, but it's safe to say that this unit is very conveniently sized, and appears to provide (surprisingly) 90% as much cooling as one of the mega-honker air coolers. And again, at this price point? It's really a slam dunk. The one thing I don't like: It's not lightweight. I mean, it's got some heft to it...if it were only 10 or 20% heavier, I would be worried about this thing torquing on my motherboard 24/7. Buy buy buy. I'll be happy to run any tests or whatever scenarios you want me to run if you leave me a comment. I did make some videos of the install, but I'm feeling too lazy to pretty them up for an Amazon video review. If you care to see those, maybe by the time you ask I wouldn't have deleted them.
Top critical review
2 people found this helpful
AM2 chip is MUCH bigger than contact of cooler
By mmmmna on Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2020
I have plenty of clearance around the CPU cooler, no issue with sizes, no issue with heights. The latch is an assembly which is really difficult to master, being 2 pieces which must nest together UNDER the huge tower of fins, AND be connected onto the motherboard cooler mounting frame, and only THEN should you rotate the latch all the while holding everything with ONE hand. Not at all easy to do (but probably much easier to do if the motherboard is NOT in a case). But then consider these 4 critical points: 1] My Athlon 64 X2 6000 is a huge chip compared to the cooler mounting base, the cooler contact area barely covers 3/4 of the chip surface. Maybe less? But wait! 2] The 3 heat pipes on the contact area of the cooler are NOT flush with the mounting base but are ABOVE the mounting base (which holds the 3 heat pipes) by almost 2/3rds the thickness of a credit card. Which means that the only contact points to the CPU are the 3 heat pipes. Or less - see next point. This is a design issue which most builders will NEVER accept. 3] When the cooler is 'mounted', you stand a chance of one of the heat pipes NOT making full contact with the CPU, because the cooler can easily be placed to one side. Yet this next point takes all the above moot: 4] The latch arm will NOT rotate completely due to mechanical interference (a design error). Which means the latch arm will spring open when you are simply looking at it. It did so for me several times and I was almost going to use a twist tie to hold it in an ALMOST LATCHED position. After I added all 4 of the above problems, I reassembled the original CPU cooler I had been using - this one cannot and will not be used in my system, it is totally inadequate for my needs. DO NOT BUY this cooler unless you can machine it to correct the 2 design issues AND you have a smaller chip.
Sort by:
Filter by:
By -
Verified Amazon Purchase
Vine Customer Review of Free Product
Sorry, no reviews match your current selections.
Try clearing or changing some filters.Show all reviews
Show more reviews